At odds with Congress, but both Jagan and Mamata decide to vote for Pranab

At odds with Congress, but both Jagan and Mamata decide to vote for Pranab

However, the CPI, RSP, TDP and TRS are likely to abstain from voting in the presidential election.

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A Srinivasa Rao

Hyderabad

July 18, 2012

UPDATED: July 19, 2012 08:15 IST

Mamata Banerjee (left), Jaganmohan Reddy.

After much dilly-dallying, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the major opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, has finally decided to boycott the presidential election scheduled to be held on Thursday.

A statement from TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said the party would abstain from voting in the presidential elections as it had been fighting against anti-people policies of the Congress and the communal BJP.

"The decision was taken after a long discussion with the senior leaders and studying all options. Having opposed the policies of Congress, the party cannot afford to support UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Similarly, the party felt it was not proper to support P A Sangma, the candidate of the NDA, which is led by a communal party like BJP," the statement said.

On the other hand, the YSR Congress party, headed by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is fighting a bitter battle with the ruling Congress in the state, announced its decision to support Mukherjee. The party has 17 MLAs and two MPs.

YSR Congress Party MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy announced the party's decision after a meeting chaired by honorary president YS Vijayalakshmi. "We have felt that it is not proper in a democracy to abstain from voting, especially in the case of elections to the highest post in the country. We have taken the decision to support Mukherjee and it is above politics. We hope that Mukherjee would do justice to the post of constitutional head," he said.

The YSR Congress party also decided to support the candidature of UPA candidate Hamid Ansari for the Vice-President's post.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which also has 17 MLAs in the assembly and two MPs in the Lok Sabha, has not made an official announcement, but the party has indicated that it might abstain from polling in protest against Mukherjee's opposition to the formation of Telangana.

The decision of the TDP, with 86 MLAs and 11 MPs, including five Rajya Sabha members, was believed to be crucial in the event of a keen contest between Mukherjee and Sangma. However, with the Trinamool Congress changing its mind and deciding to vote for the UPA candidate, the TDP decided to abstain from voting to maintain its anti-Congress, anti-BJP stand.

Interestingly, TDP leaders sought to link its decision to the Telangana issue. Party MP from Adilabad, Ramesh Rathod, said the party would abstain from voting in the presidential election in protest against the Centre's intransigence in resolving the issue of Telangana. Apparently, this was done to put the TRS into an embarrassing situation and force it to boycott the presidential poll.

BJP legislator Y Lakshminarayana alleged that Naidu has indirectly helped Mukherjee by abstaining from voting. "It amounts to voting for Mukherjee. But Naidu is trying to give an impression that he is neutral," he said.

At least five TDP MLAs have decided to defy Naidu's decision to abstain from the presidential election. Gudivada MLA Kodali Sri Venkateshwara Rao, alias Nani, who had been suspended from the party recently for meeting Jagan and his mother, is likely to follow the YSR Congress party line. Another MLA from Mantrayalam, Y Balanagi Reddy, who is also sailing with the Jagan camp, is expected to defect as well.

Similarly, another TDP MLA from Nuzvid constituency, Chinnam Ramakotaiah, openly announced that he would vote for Mukherjee.

Two other TDP legislators from Telangana -- S Venugopala Chary and K Hareeshwar Reddy, who are at odds with the party on the Telangana issue -- declared that they would vote for NDA candidate P A Sangma in the presidential polls.

On Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress, which was earlier opposed to the candidature of Mukherjee, had changed its mind and announced it would vote for the UPA candidate with "a heavy heart" due to lack of options.